Toledo Art Walk highlights artists’ journey

On Sept. 2, 3, and 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., artist and Oregon native Michael Gibbons and co-founders Douglas Haga and Ivan Kelly will again bring their Art Walk to Toledo-area art lovers.

Art Walk grew from Gibbons’ involvement with the “Vistas and Vineyards” mentor program in Corvallis circa 1993. Dorothy Matthews, artist and then owner of Pegasus Gallery in Corvallis, developed the program. The idea was to put aspiring painters together with a rotating list of half a dozen professionals as mentors, who accompanied the group in a rotation around the vineyards.

Three years of success led Gibbons to form Art Walk with Douglas Haga and Ivan Kelly, Toledo artists, and to move the date to Labor Day Weekend where it is permanently set, completely managed by the artists living and working in Toledo. Artists are encouraged to invite “guest artists” to show with them and to participate in the three days. The idea continues to focus attention on the dedicated serious artists.

“Who knows where the Art Walk will go from here? Toledo, unlike many cities its size, has a real opportunity to build a community with a strong arts base,” Gibbons said.

Art Walk 13 marks 20 years of art business in Toledo for Michael Gibbons. In celebration, the founders have invited Nicolas Wilson, a wildlife painter and bronze sculptor from Arizona to show with as part of this year’s event.

Wilson is best known for his unusual painting method of using opaque watercolors (gouache) and scratchboard techniques on specially prepared panels. More recent is his huge cast bronze monument depicting a family of wildcats that now graces the mall on the University of Arizona campus. Wilson and Gibbons will speak at the daily 1 p.m. talk/discussion in the area gardens. Music will be provided this year by Brian Newman, a Portland classical guitarist, who occasionally plays with the Oregon Symphony and is a well known teacher of guitar, as well as sound engineer for the symphony.

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